Red Flannel Fun by Mark Covell

By Judy Reed

While strolling down Main Street on Red Flannel Day, residents who stop into the Red Flannel Festival office will have the chance to hear a new song created by Nelson Township resident Mark D. Covell, in honor of the Festival.

“As another Red Flannel’s October approached a couple yrs ago, I began to think of how so many popular annual events and/or seasonal traditions seem to have some sort of theme music or song attached to them; this would certainly seem what a long-standing, 75 yr-old festival celebration like Red Flannel’s Day should have,” explained Covell. “So I figured, I might as well try to compose such a tune for all the Cedar Springs community, particularly all the dedicated participants and loyal supporters of our festival over the decades.”

Covell grew up in Cedar Springs and graduated from Cedar Springs High School. “I participated in many festivals, from riding in a pony-drawn buggy as a kid in my first parade, to walking with sports teams, to watching my sister be crowned Queen, to riding on floats from the feed mill, and working with my church to sell food,” he recalled. “It was those memories that drew upon to write this song.”

He went on to explain a little about the song, which is named “Red Flannel Fun.” “The song, set to a folk-country style, is our historical story of Cedar Springs and how a town became nationally recognized for making full-bodied underwear available to so many people across the country. I intentionally kept the arrangement simpler, as if it was being sung during the ‘40s or ‘50s, perhaps by a group of family and friends on a front porch. I reflected on my childhood memories to complete the bridge part of the song.”

The recording collaboration was with a studio in Nashville. Covell sings and plays guitar on the song.

“My hope is that this song will help put the less-enthusiastic residents get in the mood a bit more for all the events leading up to Grand Saturday,” he said.

Randy VanDuyn, president of the Red Flannel Festival, said that the board listened to the song, and agreed they would like to use it but it was pretty late in the planning to do much with it. So they decided to play it in their office on Red Flannel Day, and then hopefully be able to tie it more into the RF Festival next year.

Covell works as a licensed insurance agent and said he enjoys the creative process with writing as a hobby. “I have a dozen songs written to date, ranging from Christian/praise, theme, ballads, contemporary and tributes,” he noted.

“Red Flannel Fun” is available to download now on store.cdbaby.com, and is coming out soon on iTunes and Googleplay.